President Hassan Rouhani said Iran's coronavirus vaccination rollout could begin by Feb. 20. He said millions of doses will be available for the vaccination program, which will prioritize the front line medical community as well as high-risk individuals.
Rouhani did not specify the origin of the vaccine that will be distributed. The Iranian government recently approved the importation of of the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V. The decision was made public by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during his visit to Moscow last week. Later, Iran’s ambassador to the Russian Federation, Kazem Jalali, declared that the first batch will be on board a Tehran-bound plane by Feb. 4 and be followed by regular shipments every two weeks.
The plan to purchase the Russian vaccine has triggered widespread criticism from Iran’s top medical experts. In an open letter to Rouhani, Iran’s Medical Council cast serious doubt on Sputnik V, citing a lack of transparency in the vaccine’s research and development stages.
Hossein-Ali Shahriari, who chairs the Iranian Parliament’s Health Commission, spoke of “mistrust” in the Russian vaccine, which he will “obviously” avoid. “When we are not clear about the clinical trials of a vaccine, we cannot let it be tested on our people,” he said.
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